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Caine, Archibald
If one is to talk of immortality, one must first talk of those who have attempted to find it. Many throughout the annals of history have searched for the secret of eternal life, from alchemists and sorcerers, to tyrants and kings. Only a handful have found any start, and the number who have ascended to the level of the undying can be counted on one hand. The true facts of their journey, however, are oft lost to the sands of myth and story. The story of one of those exceedingly rare individuals, one Archibald Caine, is the topic of this entry. Archibald Luther Caine's youth is a mystery; the first recorded instance of him is from a journal of a monk. This monk, Artur Aldoss, was the man in charge of the guest quarters at his monastery, which was located to the north of Nados, near the Hill Artoom. It served as a place for pilgrims to stay while they travelled to the great mound to seek its' wisdom. The journal was water damaged during a flood of a nearby river, which regrettably caused the loss of the monastery; the date has been lost, but the entry remains: "Unreadable, Harvest Season,' ''The firste of the pilgryms come to visite Artoom have begun to arrive. The first groupe hast been housed; numbering seven-and-ten souls, among them a travellere from a far distant lande. Tall and wide of torso, with piercing blue eyes and lanky browne haire, he calls hymself Archibalde Caine. He keeps to hymself, eating alone and apart from the othyr travellers; some great secret he must keep. I confesse, I have not the stomache to approach him, for he has a most terrifying countenance..."''' Aldoss then goes on to talk of the other guests, who's names we care not about. Caine remained at the monastery for three days, before going to visit the great hill. What, specifically, he asked, none know, and many men have murdered and sinned to know the exact words. What is known is that, once he placed his stone and Qei-Flake offering upon the hill's crest and spoke his question, he slipped into unconsciousness. For seven hours he lay there, before awakening suddenly, and leaving without a word. For the next seven-and-thirty years, he vanishes from all records and texts; his encounter Upon Artoom fades into a topic occasionally told by the pilgrims to friends and family as a strange and curious tale. His last known appearance was one-and-forty years after his disappearance. In seven days and seven nights, he single-handedly assaulted the captured the city-god of Kalyriss, the Great City on the Sea, and took High Priestess Alamarra Kyn hostage. Why he did this, as well as the specifics of his assault, are unknown; every man, woman, and child was erased from existence by a great, magical force. Today, it is a dead city, haunted by aether-wraiths and ley-wurms. From there, Caine and Kyn fade from history into myth; one or both are claimed to have been sighted hundreds of times in as many years. What, or whom, do they seek? And what dark and heinous power did Caine find, to have so utterly destroyed so many with but a wave of a hand? -Odric St James, Religious Tactician [[aether-wraith], Kalyriss]Category:C